By
Arinze Izik
The road to the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations PAMOJA 2027 will officially commence on Thursday, September 24, with the start of the group stage qualifiers.
The opening phase, which will run until October 6 for Matchdays 1 and 2, will see 48 nations battle for a place at the 24-team finals to be co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
Matchday 1 alone will feature 24 games across 12 groups from September 24 to 26, setting the stage for an intense qualification campaign.
Several high-profile fixtures headline the opening day. In Bouakรฉ, former champions Cรดte d’Ivoire will take on Ghana in a West African derby at 7pm GMT. The match will mark the return of Hervรฉ Renard for his second stint with the Elephants, who has invited eight new players. Ghana have also recalled some players who missed the 2026 World Cup.
Other Thursday fixtures include DR Congo against Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone versus Zimbabwe in Group E, Cameroon hosting Comoros and Namibia facing Congo in Group G.
In Group H, co-hosts Uganda will be away to Tunisia, while Libya will play Botswana. Mauritania will also host Central African Republic in Group F.
Action continues on Friday, September 25 with 14 matches. Morocco will begin their Group A campaign against Gabon at the Prince Moulay Abdallah Sports Complex in Rabat. The game ushers in a new era for the Atlas Lions under coach Mohamed Ouahbi, who has handed first senior call-ups to Abdellah Ouazane, Soufian El Faouzi and Yassir Zabiri. Gabon will be led by new coach Sรฉbastien Mignรฉ following the international retirement of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Record seven-time champions Egypt will host Angola in Group B, while Malawi face South Sudan. In Group F, Burkina Faso will meet Benin, while Algeria and Zambia clash in Group I.
Senegal will start their Group J journey at home against Mozambique, with Sudan playing Ethiopia. Mali will host Cape Verde, Rwanda will take on Liberia, and Nigeria will begin their Group L campaign against Madagascar without injured striker Victor Osimhen. Co-hosts Tanzania will face Guinea-Bissau.
Matchday 1 wraps up on Saturday, September 26 with Group D fixtures. South Africa will host Guinea in Pitso Mosimane’s first competitive game since returning for a third spell as Bafana Bafana coach. Guinea will look to Serhou Guirassy for goals. In the other Group D match, co-hosts Kenya will face Eritrea.
CAF has explained that Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are already qualified automatically as hosts. In Groups D, H and L where the hosts are drawn, only the best-ranked team apart from the host nation will qualify.
The 48 teams are divided into 12 groups of four, with the top two teams from each group qualifying, except for the three groups containing the hosts. The qualifiers will be played over six matchdays, with Matchdays 3 and 4 scheduled for November 9-17, and the final two rounds from March 22-30, 2027.
The 2027 edition, tagged PAMOJA โ a Swahili word meaning “Together” โ will be held from June 19 to July 17, 2027. It will be the first time East Africa hosts the tournament since Ethiopia in 1976 and the first time three countries will jointly host the AFCON.
